


The Fiction on Your Lips

by iamnotokpop



Category: EXO (Band), K-pop
Genre: Alternate Universe - MAMA (Music Video), M/M, Minor Character Death
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-10-15
Updated: 2016-03-13
Packaged: 2018-04-26 12:18:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,162
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5004550
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iamnotokpop/pseuds/iamnotokpop
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The insane uprising everybody in the base keeps discussing should be the focus of his worry, but right now Baekhyun's mainly concerned about staying alive. No matter what it takes.</p><p>It's proving to be a lot easier (and harder) than he had anticipated.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

“-a violent attack in which the whole Jung family was brutally murdered, just a few months after the youngest child Soojung went missing.” The newsreader paused, looking down at her papers.

 

“In other news, the search for the three missing Wu brothers continues. Many believe that a year having passed since the first abduction of Luhan Wu, there is not much hope left for the three young boys. Police, however, say there is no need to lose hope. Although there are no new leads on the eldest and second eldest children Luhan and Jongdae, police have stated they are looking into possible suspects that have come to light recently regarding the youngest Wu, Sehun’s, abduction. In a press conference today it was revealed Sehun’s case, like many of the other teenage abductions occurring recently, could have ties to the violent attacks in the north led by sadistic rebel groups who have taken control of the northern regions. All eyes are now looking to Kris Wu, the last remaining son who-”

 

“Baekhyun!”

 

Baekhyun’s eyes jerked away from the TV, and he scrambled for the remote to press the power button. He managed to turn it off just before his mum walked into the room, a timid smile on her face.

 

“You ready to go?” she asked, glancing at his packed suitcase by his feet. He nodded in response. “Great! Then… shall we go?” She gave that small smile again and Baekhyun wanted to scream as she followed him down the stairs.

 

She had been this way – nervous and unsure – ever since it happened. He knew she wasn’t doing it on purpose but the very idea that his own mother could actually be scared of him made a thick sense of dread settle in his stomach.

 

He dragged his suitcase out to the car and was sliding it into the boot when a large hand settled over his shoulder. He turned around with what he hoped was a positive smile to look at his father.

 

“Now, son.” The man said gruffly, never one for emotions, “Your mother and I we… we know you’re a good kid.” Baekhyun resisted the urge to wince and stared at his dad’s shoes. “And what happened – what you did – it’s not you. So I hope you’ll take this trip as a time to reflect on the good person you really are, okay?”

 

Baekhyun could do nothing but silently nod and wait until his father’s shoes were out of sight. He could hear his parents muttering to each other, but he didn’t want to try and hear what they were saying. Instead he walked around to the passenger side of the car and waited.

 

<><><><><> 

 

There weren’t many kids on the coach, only fifteen including himself. The rest of his year were on the actual school trip, a week at the snow learning to ski; or showing off their skiing – it was a sports school, after all. The kids on the bus were the ones not allowed to go due to misbehaviour. Mrs Park was supervising them, along with a nervous looking student teacher called Mr Kim (“Please, just call me Joonmyeon!”) who had been pushed into the job of marking the roll.

 

Baekhyun recognised a few of the names called – Kris Wu being one of them – but the only person he was actually friends with was Minseok.

 

“I still can’t believe you have to come on this stupid trip. You’ve done nothing wrong!” Baekhyun grumbled.

 

Minseok laughed at his pouting friend, his hands busy fiddling with the pocket on the seat in front of him. “It was a very expensive trip, and my scholarship only covers so much.”

 

“That’s bullshit. You’re the best skater in the whole country! They should be paying you to go on the trip.”

 

Minseok giggled into the back of his hand, sending a small thrill through Baekhyun’s stomach. _Stop it,_ he told himself. “Don’t overreact, Baekhyun. I’m on an ice-skating scholarship, not a football scholarship. I don’t exactly get the best funding as it is.”

 

Baekhyun was about to reply but he was cut off by Mr. Kim/call-me-Joonmyeon’s timid voice calling out more names on the roll. The coach was small, so as they set off it wasn’t hard for Baekhyun to tune into people conversations around him.

 

He recognised one of the boys sitting in front of them as Kyungsoo, but the other guy he was unfamiliar with.

 

“Zitao, stop complaining.” He heard Kyungsoo sigh out.

 

The Zitao kid shook his head petulantly. “This is so not fair! I wasn’t even skipping class. I was just running late!”

 

Kyungsoo snorted loudly. “Tao, I don’t think you’ve once been on time all throughout high school. A week ago you were literally an hour late.”

 

“I just never have enough time to get ready, okay? Whose idea was it to start school at nine in the morning?”

 

“Whatever Tao, just accept that you’re an idiot.”

 

“Oh I’m the idiot?” Zitao scoffed incredulously. “I’m not the one who punched the damn dragon!”

 

“Don’t call him that ridiculous nickname. He’s a brat, not a dragon.” There was a slight pause. “Also, I don’t regret it. That son of a bitch purposefully walked all over my new saplings.”

 

Zitao sighed like they’d been over this already quite a few times. “I really think it was an accident-”

 

“I had just planted them! Besides, he was the one who punched back.”

 

“I know. You two had a damn brawl in the middle of the conservation garden.”

 

There was a very long silence, before Kyungsoo sniffed disdainfully and muttered, “I stand by my actions.”

 

Baekhyun glanced down the bus at ‘the dragon’ in question. He had his head pressed against the window clearly trying to block out the rest of the world, including Park Chanyeol who was attempting to breach a conversation with the boy but was being brutally ignored.

 

Baekhyun felt pretty sorry for Chanyeol. About a year ago, Kris and Chanyeol were basically inseparable, the best of friends. But ever since Luhan had been abducted, then Jongdae and then Sehun, it was rare to see them together at all. Kris became a completely different person. Not that Baekhyun really blamed him, with three of his brothers missing. He used to be the prince of the school, with a sweet and caring personality and a cute gummy smile that went hand in hand with Chanyeol’s own blinding grin.

 

But now… well, now he was the dragon.

 

Baekhyun turned to glance at two of the students on the bus who were sitting across from them. He didn’t know them but heard them answer to the names ‘Kim Jongin’ and ‘Zhang Yixing’ on the roll.

 

“How can you even be so excited about this?” One of them grumbled to the other.

 

“I, my dear Jongin, am a man of opportunity.” The one who Kyungsoo assumed to Yixing said. “Why shouldn’t I enjoy this trip?”

 

“I still can’t believe what you did you absolute dumbass.” Jongin look like a mix between unimpressed and vaguely awed.

 

“Excuse, me but I believe all I did wrong was break into the school staffroom to get a first aid kit to save a boy from a severe allergic reaction.”

 

“No, I’m pretty sure what you did wrong was stealing a copy of the answers to the mid terms when you returned the first aid kit.”

 

“Nobody seems to remember the part where I saved a young boy from meeting an early grave.”

 

“At least you actually did something wrong to get you landed here. All I did was skip a few classes!” Jongin whined, and he crossed his arms with a huff.

 

“A few?” Yixing laughed loudly. “Try half, Jongin.”

 

“So? That isn’t exactly a crime. I should be skiing right now! It’s not like I beat up a teacher like that Baekhyun-” Jongin cut himself off quickly with wide eyes as he looked up and made eye contact with Baekhyun.

 

Baekhyun glanced away quickly to stare out the window. He could vaguely hear Yixing berating Jongin but he tuned it out and focused on the surroundings whipping past.

 

He almost jumped a foot in the air as he felt a warm hand rest on his thigh. He looked up to see Minseok staring at him worriedly. “Are you okay?”

 

It was moments like these when Baekhyun just wanted to kiss Minseok. Well, really that was more like every moment but the feeling was particularly amplified at times like these.

 

Minseok was the only one who didn’t treat Baekhyun any differently. Usually when you find out someone beat up a teacher so bad they broke a leg and two ribs you become a little wary. Hell, even Baekhyun’s parents didn’t look at him the same, even though they tried to hide it.

 

Minseok didn’t push anything, either. Most people were still pushing Baekhyun for an answer as to why the hell he did it, but Minseok simply asked once, and when Baekhyun hadn’t replied he smiled that perfect smile and changed the subject.

 

Baekhyun was more than a little bit head over heels for Minseok.

 

He nodded in reply to Minseok’s question, and tried not to look too happy when Minseok didn’t take his hand away from his thigh.

 

Baekhyun glanced up when Minseok was curiously quiet, and found the boy staring at his hand with a troubled expression clouding his eyes.

 

“Minseok?” he called out quietly. His piercing eyes darted up to meet his.

 

“Baekhyun…” he started, the grip on high thigh tightening slightly. “Do you-”

 

He never got to finish his sentence.

 

Whatever he was going to say was cut off as a blinding light filled Baekhyun’s eyes and a searing pain ripped through his body. He heard screams tear through the air – whether his own was one of them he couldn’t tell – before all sound was blocked out by a deafening crack.

 

Baekhyun wasn’t sure if he blacked out or not but when he finally wrenched his eyes open he could still only feel blistering pain under his skin, like his blood was pumping poison through his body and burning through his heart. His vision blurred in and out of focus but he could eventually take in his surroundings, even though it felt like his brain was processing things in slow motion.

 

The coach was on its side, ripped completely open and smouldering, a cracked and blackened husk.

 

It looked like it had been hit by… by lightning.

 

Baekhyun himself had been thrown across to the other side of the road, and as he – with much difficulty – looked around he saw that the rest of the students and Joonmyeon were similarly sprawled across the road. He could hardly hear a thing as his ears were ringing so loudly it felt like needles in his ears. He squinted back at the bus but quickly looked away at once he saw the bloody mess in the driver’s seat. He didn’t want to think about what had happened to the driver.

 

Everyone else seemed to be in an equal amount of pain, except as Baekhyun really tried to focus on their writhing bodies he gasped in shock.

 

Their bodies… they seemed to be glowing, like there was a coloured aura around them. Baekhyun looked to his left at the person closest to him – Jongin – and gaped as he saw the area around his right eye pulsing a bright purple, the skin there bubbling and mutating as Jongin screamed in pain. Baekhyun felt his own face crawling and stabbing and he panicked that the same thing was happening to him.

 

He spotted a large shard of glass about half a metre away and fought through the dizzying pain to haul himself over by his arms, feeling small bits of broken glass slice into his skin. When he reached the glass he pulled his torso up, and almost screamed at his reflection.

 

There were three large slashes across his face, like something with claws had sliced diagonally across his whole face. But the scary part was, they were glowing like Jongin’s, except his were a fizzing and crackling pink.

 

Baekhyun was about to sob, and reached a bloody and shaking hand up to feel his face. But his hand stopped abruptly, because as he watched, the slashes stopped bubbling. The pain coursing through his blood seemed to subside slightly as well. He stared at his face as the pink gashes grew thinner and thinner, until with one last ripple they closed completely.

 

He gaped at his reflection, and felt at his face, uncaring about the blood he was smearing across it. The skin was smooth like usual, and it was then that he noticed the pain was all but gone. All that was left was a dull throbbing ache through all of his limbs.

 

Now that the ringing in his head had dulled out, his ears could faintly pick up on the sound of a rhythmic thumping. He looked up to find the source of it, and could see a line of people in uniforms coming over a hill in the road, and he realised the thumping was marching. There must have been about a hundred soldiers, all in grey.

 

At the head of them was a tall figure, his uniform a glaring white. Baekhyun kept his eyes trained on them, not sure what to do and watched as they approached the body closest to them. One of the soldiers pulled the body up, and they seemed to be wearing a headpiece that performed a scan before they dropped the body, announcing “Dead.”

 

If Baekhyun couldn’t move already he would have stilled in fear as the limp body of his classmate lay on the ground. The commander nodded and they moved to the next person. Baekhyun recognised them as Kyungsoo. Like everyone else, his clothes were in tatters and Baekhyun stared wide-eyed at his feet that were a bright green, the colour wrapping up his calves like vines. As one of the soldiers hoisted him in the air he could see the areas of his temples had the same markings. The soldier holding him called out, “He’s marked.” The commander waved his hands and thick handcuffs were placed around his wrists.

 

Kyungsoo appeared to be conscious but he wasn’t moving much. Baekhyun guessed that everyone was in the same boat as him then, as he couldn’t find the energy to stand or even crawl.

 

Baekhyun held his breath as they marched towards the next person sprawled across the road. They didn’t have any markings that Baekhyun could see, but they were definitely alive.

 

“Alive.” One of the soldiers informed their commander once they had lifted them up.

 

“Any markings?”

 

The same scan from before was performed.

 

“No, sir.”

 

The commander sighed, looking irritated. “Kill him.”

 

Baekhyun’s throat closed around a scream as the soldier pulled out a gun and fired a bullet straight through the kid’s head. They dropped his lifeless body to the ground and moved onto the next person.

 

Baekhyun’s heart was pounding as he remembered the way his own face had healed over. It was clear as they killed another student that those markings were what they were looking for. What was going to happen to him?

 

They cuffed more kids who had survived and were marked – including Joonmyeon, whose whole body was electric blue excluding his face.

 

They also took Chanyeol - the skin on his right arm and hand a bright flaming red, Zitao – who had a black stripe from the top of his forehead right down his nose, Yixing – who had three matching yellow stripes on both cheeks, Jongin – the skin around his right eye bright purple, and Kris – his back covered in swirling orangey-red that swept all the way up to his neck.

 

Baekhyun watched in horror as they neared Minseok, a few metres in front of him. His back was to Baekhyun, but from what he could see there were no markings. However, he was pulled up and examined, and met with approval by the commander. Baekhyun strained to see his face from the ground, but his view was soon blocked by the soldiers.

 

All thoughts of Minseok soon left his brain as the eyes of the commander landed on him. The soldiers marched towards him and before he knew it he was been pulled to his feet.

 

“Alive.”

 

The commander paused slightly, which Baekhyun briefly thought was strange given the curt orders he had been giving so far. The thought was flung far from his mind in place of sheer panic as the man asked, “Any markings?”

 

There was a silence while the soldier scanned him. “No, sir.”

 

“Well then.” The commander stared at Baekhyun, a small frown making its way onto his features. When he finally did speak the words seemed forced. “Ki… kill him.”

 

Baekhyun’s eyes widened, and he felt tears pool in the corners of his eyes as his heart hammered in his chest. “N-no please! Please I-”

 

He snapped his mouth shut as a gun was pressed to his head. He stared once more at the commander, before squeezing his eyes shut.

 

It was only after a full ten seconds that he dared to open his eyes again. The gun still hadn’t moved, but the soldier supposed to kill him was almost shaking and the commander was frowning, staring openly at Baekhyun.

 

“What is your name.” he demanded, crossing his arms.

 

“B-Byun Baekhyun.”

 

There was a long pause, and Baekhyun looked back and forth between the gun and the commander, not sure what was happening.

 

“Take him onto the ship.” The commander ordered shortly. Baekhyun’s head spun in a mixture of relief and confusion.

 

The soldier spluttered slightly, not taking the gun away from his head. “But sir, he is a defect. There are no markings. If we-”

 

“Well if you can actually shoot him then you are more than welcome. If not, we have to get back to the north as quickly as possible before they find us.”

 

The soldier pressed the gun harder into his head for a few seconds, seeming resolute, before he sighed and slumped back, placing his gun into its holster. He grabbed Baekhyun instead, looking as confused as Baekhyun felt.

 

“Back to the ship! Lets move quickly, we can’t afford another run in!” the commander called out.

 

They began marching back down the road, Baekhyun and the rest of the surviving students stumbling and tripping. Baekhyun was too far away from the rest of the group to see Minseok, but he was more than relieved he was alive.

 

As they came over the hill that the soldiers had approached from, Baekhyun gaped. In the middle of the road there was a huge metal air-ship. He had seen a few on the TV that the government used, but it was nothing like seeing them in real life, even if this did seem to be one of the smaller models. It looked exactly like the government ships, only painted grey and black instead of the usual blue. Probably stolen, then.

 

As they got nearer, a ramp extended from the mouth of ship and they boarded, being pushed along by the soldiers. Inside the ship was alive with activity, men and women in grey uniforms hurrying around. The second the ramp closed behind them the craft began to take off, and some of the men and women in uniform hurried forward to place a metal cuff on the ankle of each new arrival.

 

Except for Baekhyun, that is. While the rest were being cuffed, the commander turned to him, and grabbed onto his forearm. He marched past everyone down the hall, after huffing out a quick order of “Take them to their rooms after you’re finished.”

 

Baekhyun was pulled around a few corners until they reached a hallway with only one door. The man swiped a card through a lock and stepped into the room with Baekhyun, the door sliding just after him.

 

He dropped his hand from Baekhyun’s shoulder, letting it slide down to his hand.

 

Baekhyun swallowed nervously before looking up at the other man. He decided to try and speak. “What’s going on?” His voice tremored badly.

 

The man seemed to frown at himself for a moment before his eyes clouded, and he smiled fondly at Baekhyun. The action made Baekhyun’s head spin. What was going on? “Everything’s going perfectly, you don’t have to worry.” Baekhyun felt bile rise in his throat as the man reached up two hands to cup his face gently. “Your friends all successfully got through the changing, and you’re…” Baekhyun watched the man’s throat bob as he swallowed. “You’re perfect, Baekhyun. Everything’s perfect.”

 

Even through the confusion, Baekhyun’s mind flashed with all the dead bodies on the road, the searing pain, the glowing skin. _Perfect, huh?_

 

His head was swimming with questions. Who were these people? What happened to Minseok and everybody? Why was he in this room with this man and not dead? And why was the man acting so… caring?

 

“Why didn’t you kill me?” The question was out of Baekhyun’s mouth before he could stop it and he watched in horror as the man frowned again, his eyes seeming to clear. He stared at Baekhyun for a few seconds, his head tilting in confusion.

 

“Why…?” he shook his head, muttering to himself. “Why didn’t I? I was going to but… but you were just so… beautiful. Perfect. Byun Baekhyun.”

 

Baekhyun was terrified, the man was obviously insane. But he also looked like he was regretting ever taking Baekhyun onto the ship. Like he might be about to take everything back and kill Baekhyun.

 

 _It’s perfect he wants?_ Baekhyun’s panicked brain tried to search for a remedy. _Just try to be perfect._

 

Baekhyun reached out a hand tentatively, resting it lightly against his cheek. He knew it was probably too bold but he couldn’t have the man deciding Baekhyun was better off dead. “What’s your name?” Baekhyun asked, his voice shaking slightly. As he spoke the words he felt a surge of… something. It was like a wave pushing out from his chest.

 

The man’s eyes seemed to glaze over again, his gaze returning again to the almost… loving stare it was before. “Just call me Jaejoong.”

 

Baekhyun nodded. “Jaejoong.”

 

He seemed very pleased to hear Baekhyun say his name, even though it felt like venom on Baekhyun’s tongue.

 

Baekhyun glanced over Jaejoong’s shoulder, and gasped, a hand whipping up to his face. He was staring into a mirror, and those three pink slashes from before were there again, rippling across his face.

 

“What is it?” Jaejoong looked behind him at the mirror then back at Baekhyun in confusion. “What’s wrong, Baekhyun?”

 

“Do you – do you not see it? The things on my face?” Baekhyun whispered, three fingers tracing along the pink skin.

 

“There’s nothing on your face.” Jaejoong smiled, pulling Baekhyun’s hand down. “Your face is absolutely perfect.”

 

Baekhyun tried to smile at Jaejoong, but not before he glanced in the mirror again.

 

The three lines were gone, but he could still feel them, sizzling and pulsing under his skin.


	2. Chapter 2

The aircraft landed after about two hours. Jaejoong had left his room quickly, saying he had matters to attend to but that he would be back at the end of the flight.

 

True to his word he came back a few minutes before they landed, apologising profusely. What for, Baekhyun wasn’t exactly sure.

 

Jaejoong thread his fingers through Baekhyun’s and led him back through the halls and down the ramp. They were outside in a huge military area of some sort. There were hundreds of planes, tanks and weaponry, and thousands of people in uniform bustling around.

 

Baekhyun didn’t realise he was accidentally squeezing Jaejoong’s hand in fear until the man’s other hand came up to stroke Baekhyun’s cheek. He used every ounce of willpower not to flinch away.

 

“Exciting, isn’t it?” Jaejoong grinned.

 

Baekhyun nodded slowly. “Are you… is this some part of the government?”

 

Jaejoong blinked before bursting out into laughter. The hand that was still on Baekhyun’s cheek reached up to stroke his hair. “No, no. Have you not heard on the news? About the uprising in the north?”

 

Baekhyun nodded.

 

“That is us! We are bringing in a new government, a new age! And your friends will be our soldiers.”

 

 _New age?_ Baekhyun thought to himself. _What was he talking about?_

 

“Our leader has promised me riches beyond my wildest dreams when we win. And I will share it with you, Baekhyun. You’ll be my perfect little doll.”

 

Baekhyun swallowed back the sudden urge to vomit and attempted a smile.

 

Jaejoong seemed relatively appeased. He looked like he was about to say something, but was interrupted by a woman in a grey uniform.

 

“Sir?” she asked, looking slightly nervous.

 

“What?” Jaejoong snapped. Baekhyun flinched back at his sharp tone.

 

“The leader wishes to see you and the new soldiers immediately.”

 

“Well don’t stand here, go and fetch them! Have them ready for me outside the Leader’s office in five minutes. Go!” he practically snarled his last order and Baekhyun didn’t realise but he was holding his breath.

 

Jaejoong turned to him after the woman left and cooed at Baekhyun’s frightened expression. “There’s no need to be scared my sweet little doll. Did I upset you?”

 

Baekhyun wasn’t sure what he wanted to hear so he kept quiet, trying to relax and keep Jaejoong calm. The last thing he needed was for him to get suspicious again.

 

“Sh-should you get going?” Baekhyun asked.

 

Jaejoong grinned, once again lacing their fingers together. “You come with me. I don’t want you out of my sight.”

 

<><><><><> 

 

They arrived outside the Leader’s room a few minutes later, the walk taking them through a huge building which he was informed was only a fifth of the whole base. The rest of the recruits were yet to arrive so they stood outside, waiting to be allowed in.

 

“You should feel very lucky, doll.” Jaejoong informed him. “You’ve only been here ten minutes and you’re already about to meet the Leader.”

 

He spoke about this ‘leader’ like he was a god. Baekhyun forced a smile, nodding.

 

The doors were opened, and a man stepped outside. “Commander? You are to enter.”

 

Jaejoong nodded, grabbing onto Baekhyun’s elbow and hauling him inside after him. He was certain this room was for officials only, but surprisingly, nobody stopped Baekhyun as he entered.

 

The room was large, and a sterile white. It was almost entirely empty save for the huge desk at the opposite side of the room, that was reached by a small set of stairs.

 

The man sitting in the desk was probably about fifty years old, with grey hair and deep lines on his face. Despite his evident age, he was huge, and the muscles that rippled menacingly under his clothes were enough to make Jaejoong look like a puppy. He had two soldiers behind him, standing to attention.

 

The pair approached the desk, standing in front and waiting for the Leader to look up. He did after about half a minute, the charged silence filled with pen scratching on paper, finishing the letter he was writing before giving them his attention.

 

“Commander.” He greeted him coolly.

 

“Sir.” Jaejoong bowed deeply, and Baekhyun felt the Leader’s cold stare wash over him so he thought it best to bow as well. When they straightened, Baekhyun’s eyes immediately met with the man seated behind the desk, his dark eyes curious.

 

“I hear your mission was successful?” The man’s words were slow and careful, and his penetrating stare hadn’t left Baekhyun.

 

“Yes sir.” Jaejoong answered quickly. “Eight successfully transitioned out of seventeen people.”

 

“And yet you brought back nine?” he gaze finally left Baekhyun and he felt physically relieved, like a weight was off his shoulders.

 

Jaejoong laughed nervously, glancing at Baekhyun in the corner of his eye. “Please forgive me, Sir. This is Byun Baekhyun. He was unmarked, but... he’s just so…”

 

“Yes. He is, isn’t he?” The man chuckled, his head resting on his palm. “However, I fail to see why you would break our conduct and bring a failed attempt into our base.”

 

Baekhyun’s heart began to pound. The Leader was going to kill him, he knew it. He tried to clear his head, tried to think of what he had done when Jaejoong was like this. He remembered that strange surge over his body and tried to replicate it. He closed his eyes for just a second, feeling a slight pull in his chest and he let the gentle wave roll through his finger tips and wash over the leader. He honestly had no idea what he was doing but he was scared to death and was probably going to die and-

 

“Oh.” He opened his eyes and his gaze met with the Leader, whose head was tilted as he studied Baekhyun, his stare intense. “I see what you mean. He’s…” Whatever he was going to say was cut short by a knocking on the door. “Enter!” he called out vaguely, still looking Baekhyun up and down.

 

Baekhyun turned around when the doors opened, and almost let out a sob of relief when the survivors from the bus came inside, stopping at the bottom of the stairs. They all still had their pulsing scars, which made Baekhyun frown. Why was he the only one they had disappeared on?

 

He looked eagerly through the group, trying to spot Minseok. When he finally did, he gasped. Their eyes met… at least, Baekhyun was pretty sure they did, because Minseok’s eyes were solid grey. They looked like windows into a lightning storm, except kind of frozen like… like ice. Baekhyun couldn’t differentiate between the pupils or irises or anything; they were completely grey.

 

“Baekhyun?” Baekhyun’s eyes darted towards the voice and he was surprised to see Jongin looking up at him with wide eyes. “We thought you were dea-”

 

“Enough!” The Leader’s voice boomed across the room, and Baekhyun looked back to see him rise from his chair, coming to stand uncomfortably close to him. “These are the new soldiers, Jaejoong?”

 

“Yes, Sir.”

 

“And are they strong?”

 

“We won’t know for sure until training begins, Sir. But the initial scans show great potential.”

 

Baekhyun looked to his side to see the Leader give a small yet feral smile as he studied the new boys. Baekhyun almost jumped as his eyes left the group of people and turned to him, instead. “What do you think, Baekhyun?”

 

Baekhyun swallowed, glancing down to see everyone looking up at him, confused. “What-what do you mean?”

 

“I mean,” Baekhyun hardly dared to breathe as a hand came to wrap around his hip, “do you think they will make good soldiers for me? Or should I have them killed?”

 

Baekhyun’s eyes widened. “No! They – they’ll definitely be good soldiers! I’m sure they’re very strong and- and good. Sir.”

 

He could feel the Leader laughing next to him, and the grip on his hip tightened as he was pulled closer to his huge body.

 

Baekhyun looked over to Jaejoong to see him looking visibly angry, his teeth grinding. “Well,” he spat out, “if that’s all, me and Baekhyun will be going.” He reached out to take Baekhyun’s elbow but the hand on his hip pulled him aside until he was behind the Leader’s back.

 

Baekhyun felt fear course through his veins and before he knew what he was doing he accidentally let out another surge of whatever that was. This time it was so strong, he swore he could see it, like a pink fog washing over Jaejoong and the Leader. They both seemed to stiffen as it reached them, and Baekhyun thought he heard Jaejoong growl.

 

“Give him back to me, sir.” Jaejoong snarled through gritted teeth.

 

“He’s mine, commander. Let it go.”

 

Jaejoong glared at the man. “He’s _mine._ Give him _back_.”

 

“I said _no!_ ” the Leader shouted, and Baekhyun let out a strangled gasp as Jaejoong pulled out a gun to the Leader’s head. _What in hell was happening!?_

 

The Leader stilled slightly, and then, like a flash he pounced. The gun fired and hit the wall above Baekhyun’s head, but all he could focus on was the Leader breaking the arm Jaejoong held the gun in before holding onto his head and snapping his neck, all in mere seconds. Jaejoong didn’t even have time to make a sound.

 

Baekhyun couldn’t even scream, could only watch as Jaejoong’s body fell to the floor. It wasn’t as though Baekhyun had cared for him, in fact he was more than happy he was dead after what he had done, but to watch someone so easily end someone’s life like that, with their bare hands…

 

Baekhyun had a fair grasp on what he was doing this time as he focused on the pulling in his chest. He watched the faint pink smoke slide along the floor until it reached the Leader’s ankles, winding up his body. Baekhyun refused to end up dead like Jaejoong.

 

The man spun around quickly, spotting Baekhyun across the room he stormed over to him, but he stopped abruptly about a metre away. He stared at the wall above Baekhyun’s head where he remembered the bullet had landed. The Leader’s jaw clenched. “That son of a bitch almost shot you.” He turned to face the two guards behind his desk, who didn’t look all that shaken. “Feed his body to the dogs.”

 

He then turned back to Baekhyun and without warning reached down to lift Baekhyun into the air, holding him tightly to his body. Baekhyun stared with wide eyes out at the room as he was carried away to a door behind the desk. Everyone stared back at him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter this time I'm sorry   
> I hope you like it...  
> Thank you again for reading!!! <3


	3. Chapter 3

The Leader dropped Baekhyun onto the bed, quickly kneeling in front of him. He grabbed Baekhyun’s chin, so he could tilt his head around and look at him from all angles.

 

“Aren’t you a beautiful little thing.” He murmured, and he quickly leaned up to press his lips against Baekhyun’s. Baekhyun wanted to vomit.

 

He sat stock still, not sure what to do as the man began to move his lips against Baekhyun’s, one large hand coming up to grip the back of his neck.

 

He pulled away, his eyes shining with something like awe, with both hands resting on Baekhyun’s neck. “Such a perfect little dove.” He let his hands slide down onto his shoulders, then down his front, coming to rest of his thighs. The man watched in fascination as he moved his hands back up and over his hips, to his waist. He wrapped both hands around it and squeezed lightly, letting out a small gasp when his fingers almost touched. “So delicate, aren’t you?” Baekhyun squeezed his eyes shut as the man slid his head under his chin, rubbing his face along his neck, leaving a trail of kisses that made Baekhyun’s skin crawl. “Such pretty skin.”

 

“What-what’s your name?” Baekhyun asked, trying to find anything to break the tension.

 

The man seemed to like this question, his hands resting on Baekhyun’s hips again. “Jinseok my little dove.”

 

“Jinseok.”

 

“That’s right.”

 

“Jinseok, I-I-” Baekhyun paused to take a deep breath.

 

The man pulled his head back to look into Baekhyun’s eyes. “What is it, Baekhyun? You can ask me for anything.”

 

“Can I… can we please sleep? It has been a long day.”

 

Jinseok’s eyes softened into a look of understanding and he pulled away to stand up. “Of course.”

 

Baekhyun stood as well, shifting on his feet, eager to get away from this man and whatever spell he had somehow put him under.

 

“I guess I’ll just leave then.” He turned towards the door that he assumed was the exit, but was stopped by a hand on his wrist.

 

“Don’t be silly, little dove. You will sleep here with me.” Jinseok smiled at him and brushed Baekhyun’s hair back with hands that he hadn’t forgotten could snap someone’s neck. “I’m not letting you out of my sight.”

 

Baekhyun watched, slightly numb as Jinseok stripped down to his underwear and changed into pyjamas. He looked over at the shorter man once he was done and chuckled. “You can’t sleep in that, darling. Here.” He reached into his drawers and pulled out a spare set of pyjamas, and held them out to Baekhyun.

 

Baekhyun took them from him robotically, muttering an empty thank you that earned him a fond smile. He quickly stripped down and got into the clothes when Jinseok had his back turned, fixing something on the bed.

 

It was only later, when he was too hot under the blankets and the large muscled arms wrapped around his waist, and he was certain Jinseok was asleep that he let himself cry. 

 

 

Baekhyun looked out at the training room from where he was sitting next to Jinseok. There was a wall of apparently bulletproof glass separating them and the room, which held the rest of the boys he had been taken with. He tried not to gape at their glowing skin, knowing that although it was hidden, his face looked the same. The room was overwhelmingly bright, everything except for the wooden floors a shiny sterile white. There were at least twenty helmeted guards in there as well, spaced along the walls and next to the door.

 

Jinseok had informed him when they had sat down that they could hear everything in the room, but nobody in the room could hear them unless they wanted them to. 

 

Baekhyun had smiled, still unsure as to how powerful this… thing he had over Jinseok was, and what his limits were.

 

Jinseok had explained to him that his friends were going to be trained to be his soldiers in the ‘invasion’. When Baekhyun asked what invasion, Jinseok had chuckled and told him not to concern himself with such matters.

 

“Your friends are very lucky.” He said now, reaching up a hand to stroke through Baekhyun’s hair, like a dog.

 

Baekhyun remained quiet. Lucky.

 

An instructor entered the room in front of them, a grim looking woman in uniform. The murmured conversation in the room stopped as she stood sharply in the middle of the room.

 

“As you are all well aware you have new markings on your body.” She began, scanning the room. Baekhyun glanced quickly at the looks on the boys face; some like Jongin looked almost frantically nervous, but others, especially Minseok, looked murderously angry. “These markings are physical manifestations of a new power you can control. What these powers are, we will be unsure of until you demonstrate them yourselves. These training sessions will teach you how to manipulate your powers so that you may fight for our cause.”

 

Baekhyun was now very interested. Although he might not be able to practice with everyone else, he could finally understand what he could do, and learn the extent of it.

 

The people in the other room now looked confused, those who could were looking down at their markings with small frowns.

 

“The cuffs that were placed on you upon your entry will be worn at all times outside the training room. These block all access to powers and will ensure no… accidents occur that could threaten the cause.”

 

Everyone glanced at each other uneasily.

 

“Now!” she continued, and clapped her hands together, drawing their attention back to her. “Obviously, I myself do not have your abilities. So you will be taught by one of our first experiments.”

 

The door slid open silently, and Baekhyun nearly shot out of his chair when he saw the person who stepped inside. Everybody inside the room were in similar states of shock, but none more than Kris who stared at the figure like he couldn’t believe he was real. Baekhyun didn’t blame him.

 

“Jongdae!?” Kris practically shouted, and the man’s head flicked into his direction, his whole face changing into a mix of shock, delight, and horror.

 

“Kris? How did you… but-” Jongdae was cut off by his brother running across the room and lifting him into the air with a bone crushing hug, that Jongdae quickly reciprocated.

 

Kris and Jongdae both looked like their brains were struggling to form words but before they could Baekhyun saw Jinseok press a button and lean over towards a small microphone.

 

“Enough.” His voice boomed throughout the room, and Baekhyun didn’t miss how Jongdae physically flinched away from Kris at the command. “Jongdae, do your job.”

 

Jongdae swallowed nervously, his eyes constantly flitting back to Kris as he took his position at the front of the room. “So… hey guys, I’m Jongdae.” Jinseok shifted in his chair next to Baekhyun, and the movement must have caught Jongdae’s eye because he straightened his back immediately and stopped looking at his brother. 

 

“Okay. So by now you’ll have noticed a lot of extra energy swirling around yourselves, kind of like… kind of like a second skin that makes you feel really restless.”

 

Baekhyun leant forward slightly, listening intently. Jongdae explained that this was the power they had in it’s raw form. To control it they had to focus the energy into one point, their hands, their feet, even where their markings were.

 

Baekhyun attempted what he was saying, and with difficulty he managed to pull some of the energy towards his chest. He could almost see the pinkish glow being drawn in away from his hands and feet and forming a kind of ball inside his chest. 

 

Jongdae let them practice by themselves, going around to the people in the room and asking them questions, giving corrections to some. He didn’t look at Kris once, constantly aware of Jinseok’s presence.

 

After an hour, Jongdae called everyone to stop, and told them the lesson was over for the day.

 

Jinseok leant over to the microphone again, an irritated set to his mouth. “That’s it?” he snapped, “They’ve haven’t done anything.”

 

Jongdae cleared his throat anxiously, shifting his weight from foot to foot. “I-I’m sorry sir but… well it’s incredibly draining to try and control the powers and… and I think they would benefit from resting for today.” Baekhyun looked back at the others, seeing some of them swaying on their feet. Jongin in particular looked like he was about to pass out. It was only then that Baekhyun realised his own fatigue, so concentrated on his powers he hadn’t noticed.

 

Jinseok reluctantly allowed them to leave, turning to Baekhyun as they were cuffed and led out in single file.

 

“I’m sorry you couldn’t have seen some of their powers, my love.” He reached a hand out to caress his face. “It really is quite spectacular. You should see Jongdae’s abilities sometime. You know he can control lightning?” He laughed to himself. “Although, let me tell you, it definitely wasn’t as smooth going as this when we converted him. Back then we had no idea how to tap into the powers and just had to hurt him until he had to defend himself with them. Not very effective, but it did the job.”

 

Baekhyun ground his teeth in an attempt to curb his need to strangle the man in front of him. “Why do you need people with powers?” He took a deep breath to calm himself down when his voice came out much sharper than was safe. Luckily, Jinseok seemed unperturbed. 

 

“For the revolution of course! We must ensure we are victorious.” His smile grew wide. “How glorious it will be.” He suddenly stood from his chair, tugging Baekhyun up by his arm. “Come, let’s go to our room. We have time to spend together, we shouldn’t waste it.”

 

 

In the next lesson, Jongdae handed out an individual flower to everyone in the training room. “This lesson I want you guys to try and pull some of the energy from where you’ve focused it and attempt to wrap it around the flower. This is how you use your power. Obviously this is a very slow method and won’t have a very large effect but I don’t want you to attempt anything too big before you’ve got a proper hold over your powers or you could hurt someone.

 

“I’ll show you an example.” Jongdae held his own flower in his palm, and everyone watched as it crackled and sparked, small sparks of electricity flitting across his palm and frying the object. Baekhyun gawked at the demonstration and glanced across at the others to find them all looking equally shocked. “You see? A very small version of my lightning focused only on the flower.”

 

Everybody seemed much more eager to begin the exercise that day, muttering excitedly to each other. Baekhyun watched Minseok closely, curious about what he would be able to do. However, after a while nothing had happened to anybody’s flowers and he could tell Jinseok was growing restless.

 

Baekhyun hesitated slightly, before deciding he may as well practice with the rest of them. He took a deep breath and tried to separate a ball of the pink energy from the his core. He frowned when the colour darkened, but nothing separated.

 

After several more fruitless attempts, he looked up through the glass, watching Minseok again to see how he was doing it.

 

The boy was using his hands, his fingers fisted around a ball invisible to everyone else. He watched as Minseok steadily moved his hand until it was over the flower, and then opened his fingers and pushed his palm towards it. Baekhyun gasped as the flower began to freeze over, ice crackling up the stem and over the petals, until it was completely frozen.

 

Jinseok began to laugh, clapping loudly. “You had all better catch up to him pretty damn quickly.” He spoke into the microphone, a menacing grin on his face.

 

Baekhyun pulled his eyes away from Jongdae praising Minseok’s efforts, to look at Jinseok, who was smirking out at the room.

 

Determined now, Baekhyun focused on his core again, this time reaching a hand to his chest and closing his fingers around the energy. He tightened his fingers until he was holding a pink cloudlike ball in his hand.

 

Before he could stop himself, he let out a pleased laugh, and Jinseok’s head snapped towards him. “What is it, my dove?”

 

He bit his lip, and tried not to glance down at his fist. “No-nothing, Jinseok.”

 

Jinseok’s eyes narrowed as his gaze shifted to his hand. “What are you holding.”

 

Baekhyun swallowed, beginning to panic as Jinseok leant forward.

 

“Baekhyun. What are you holding?”

 

Before he could think about it, he reached up quickly, and pressed his fingers against Jinseok’s forehead, and watched as the cloud was absorbed into his skin.

 

“What-” Jinseok seemed to cut himself off with a sharp inhalation. “Baekhyun…” his voice was softer than a whisper. His pupils visibly dilated, and his shoulders rose and fell sharply as his breath shortened.

 

There was a moment of silence, and Baekhyun thought he had been caught, his fingers still pressed to Jinseok’s forehead, but the man seemed completely ignorant to what Baekhyun had done, and reached forward to pull him into his lap. He pulled Baekhyun’s back tightly against his chest and pushed his face into the crook of his neck, breathing deeply.

 

Baekhyun didn’t even feel as repulsed as he usually did, too focused on the energy pulsing in his chest. He felt smirk tug at his lips and he looked back up to the training room, freezing when he found Minseok stood still, his head turned towards him. Baekhyun couldn’t tell exactly with Minseok’s completely grey eyes, but he was certain he was staring at him.

 

When he realised his position - Jinseok’s arms tight around him and the man whispering adorations into his neck - he quickly tore his eyes away, his stomach churning. However, as soon as he looked away his eyes met with Jongdae’s, whose head was tilted slightly, eyes burning with curiosity. This time Jongdae looked away before him, turning to speak to Joonmyeon.

 

The rest of the training session was eventful, with four more of the boys displaying their powers. Chanyeol was the next to, his flower abruptly bursting into flames, until they burned out and all that was left in his palm was a blackened husk. The boy stared at what he had done with a horrified expression, before shaking his head and dropping the flower to stare at his hands.

 

Yixing was next, and only a few minutes later, having picked up the husk of Chanyeol’s flower and gasping as it seemed to pulse slightly, and almost… fill with life. Within a few seconds the flower had returned to what it was before Chanyeol’s fire. Yixing’s face was impassive, but Baekhyun could tell by the way he was quick to pass back the flower to Jongdae he was just as scared of his powers as the rest of them.

 

Joonmyeon and Kyungsoo were last, with the former managing to draw all the water from the plant, until it crumpled in on itself, completely dry, and the water he had drained rested in his other hand. Kyungsoo’s flower seemed to sprout roots and stems, more flower buds growing out and blossoming from it.

 

Even with more than half of the boys managing to alter their flowers, Jinseok still seemed agitated that Zitao, Kris and Jongin hadn’t been able to do anything.

 

Baekhyun didn’t pay his irritation much attention, instead his eyes naturally tracking Minseok around the room, which proved to be a mistake.

 

“That ice boy, what’s his name?” Jinseok growled, his arms tightening around Baekhyun’s waist.

 

Baekhyun shifted slightly, wincing when Jinseok’s chin dug further into his shoulder. “Minseok. Kim Minseok.”

 

“Why do you watch him so closely.”

 

Baekhyun felt the hair stand up on the back of his neck at his cold tone. “I-I don’t. I’m just interested in his power.”

 

There was silence from Jinseok for a while before his powerful arms lifted him out of his lap momentarily, and sat him back down so he was facing him. A large hand came to grip the back of Baekhyun’s head tightly. The boy swallowed as his head was forced to tilt backwards so Jinseok. “Good. Because your mind, your body, your soul, everything,” his nails dug into his neck, “is mine.”

 

Baekhyun nodded hurriedly, his eyes wide and breath panicked.

 

Jinseok smiled and loosened his grip, allowing Baekhyun to fall limply into him, fear still coursing through his veins and leaving him unable to move. He could feel the stares from the room burning into his back, but he was too frightened to care.

 

Jinseok babbled happily for the rest of the session, constantly bringing up his revolution. Baekhyun didn’t dare ask questions, remaining quiet and still in his arms until the session ended and Jinseok carried him into their room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this has taken so long, I just graduated high school and am currently travelling Europe!!!!!! I was going to wait until I was in my new house to update but you guys are so incredibly lovely so here we are!! Thank you so much to all you of who have read or commented or left kudos!!!! You make me so happy :)


	4. Chapter 4

“Your powers, if you don’t push them, will be exactly what you have been given.” Jongdae paced around the room as he talked, nervously gesturing with his hands. Clearly something was bothering him. “For example, my abilities would be limited lightning, and Joonmyeon, yours would just be water control.

 

“But you mustn’t think of your powers this way. If you stretch them, they can do so much more. It might seem difficult to understand, but think of your powers. You can kind of… feel what you know you can control, right? Chanyeol, you for example can easily feel fire, and Kyungsoo you can feel the earth. Like a sixth sense, almost. But this sense can extend to all aspects of your power.”

 

Jongdae frowned, trying to find the words to explain it. “Think of the components of fire. There’s the flame, the spark, the heat, the carbon dioxide it produces, the charcoal it leaves behind. You can control all of these. Anything that has one of these components in it is yours to control.”

 

“How?” It was Kyungsoo who asked.

 

“It’s not easy, of course, but like I said, think of your powers. Really try and feel them, feel what you know you can control.” Jongdae waited while everyone focused on their abilities, on their cores. “Now look harder, feel harder. Chanyeol, you can feel the same heat in that light bulb as in a candle, if you look hard enough, can’t you?” 

 

Chanyeol stared up at the lightbulb on the ceiling, and he nodded, eyes widening. “Of course, it’s not as easy as controlling your raw power, but it is incredibly useful.”

 

A week of training had passed. Zitao had discovered he had the ability of time control, which the others only noticed when Zitao shouted in surprise suddenly, eyes wide, that everything had stopped moving for a moment. Jongin had also found his power, when Chanyeol had accidently brushed him with a flame and he had suddenly appeared across the room from where he had been standing.

 

Kris had yet to show anything, even though Jongdae had tried multiple activities with him. Baekhyun could tell it was aggravating Jinseok immensely.

 

Baekhyun himself had discovered he could make people feel things other than just raw love. Over the week he had been tentatively practicing his power on Jinseok, and so far he had been successful in making him feel lust, calmness, excitement, happiness, and strong infatuation. He had also worked on how he transferred the emotions. Instead of using his hands, he was able to push them out like a wave, meaning he didn’t have to touch Jinseok, or even be near him to manipulate his emotions.

 

He hadn’t risked trying any negative emotions, with Jinseok as his only subject. He couldn’t risk anything going wrong.

 

They were in Jinseok’s room, the older man frowning down at the papers down at his desk. Eventually he slammed his pen down on the table, his expression becoming a scowl. “I can’t understand why the Wu boy’s powers don’t show. His brothers were so successful.”

 

Baekhyun lifted his head from the pillow in surprise. “You have his other brothers? As well as Jongdae?” He asked from where he was curled in a ball on the bed. Jinseok had insisted he rest.

 

“Hm?” Jinseok looked over his shoulder from his desk, pausing to take in Baekhyun’s form with a smile. “Yes, we do. Luhan was our first successful experiment! Hundreds failed before him, so we thought maybe it was something to do with the bloodline. So we took Jongdae and then Sehun.”

 

“And then… Kris?” Baekhyun paused to push out a wave of calmness, making sure it washed over Jinseok fully. Hopefully that would make him more willing to talk about these things. “Why’d you take so many other students with him?”

 

The tension in Jinseok’s shoulder’s released, and he smiled dazedly back at Baekhyun. “We wanted just Kris alone, but he was constantly under protection. So eventually we just decided we’d take everyone around him as well. I mean, what’s a few deaths compared to the Great War that is to come?”

 

Baekhyun tried not to let his unease show.

 

“Of course, we didn’t expect to have so many successes!” Baekhyun thought back to the dead bodies lying on the street, the bloody mess in the driver’s seat. “And what luck that you were amongst them, hm?”

 

The chair creaked lowly as Jinseok scraped it back to make his way over to where Baekhyun was curled up. “How lucky are we, darling?”

 

Baekhyun swallowed heavily. “Very.”

 

Jinseok grinned and bent his huge form down to the bed to press a long kiss to Baekhyun’s mouth. He responded as little as he could get away with as Jinseok opened his mouth against his.

 

Thankfully, Jinseok pulled away after a few minutes. “Ah, unfortunately I cannot let you distract me, little dove. I have lots of work to do for our invasion.”

 

Baekhyun nodded, trying to look upset. It apparently worked, because Jinseok cooed lightly and tapped his nose. “Don’t be sad. Have a nap and the time will pass before you know it.”

 

He nodded again, having to close his eyes and pretend to sleep before Jinseok finally turned away and went back to his desk

 

Baekhyun stared at his back, watching the harsh muscles shift under his shirt as he wrote. Images of Jaejoong’s neck snapping clean in two echoed through his mind and he curled closer in on himself, forcing himself to try and sleep to make Jinseok happy.

 

+

 

Baekhyun bit his lip anxiously as his eyes darted around the room. Jinseok had left half an hour ago. He said he would be back in a couple of hours.

 

He took a deep breath to try to calm his racing thoughts. Now could possibly be his only chance to see Minseok and the others. He thought he was going to go mad trapped in this room and the viewing room every day, constantly on edge trying to make sure Jinseok never even suspected his love for Baekhyun was fake. He needed to get out of here. He needed to see Minseok.

 

Another five minutes passed and he knew it was now or never. With gritted teeth he strode to the door, hand hesitating only for a second on the handle before he pushed it open.

 

Jinseok had let it slip that most of the personnel would be at the meeting he was attending, and he breathed a sigh of relief when he found the hallway empty.

 

Without wasting anymore time he slipped out of the room and dashed down the hall.

 

Before any thoughts of where he was supposed to go even crossed his mind a voice boomed out. “Wait.”

 

His heart stopped. He felt almost dizzy with fear and thought he might vomit before he reminded himself he could handle this. He could do this. He heard heavy footsteps behind him getting closer and closer and before he could second guess himself he spun around on his heel with a – hopefully – sweet smile. The imposing guard was confused for a moment and he took the hesitation as a chance to focus on wrapping tendrils of trust and affection around him.

 

The guard visibly relaxed but Baekhyun didn’t allow himself the luxury. He had to deal with this before anybody else spotted him and he had an actual situation on his hands. “Hello.” The guard smiled and he powered on. “I need help finding the students who are being trained. Do you know where Kim Minseok is?”

 

The guard frowned slightly and Baekhyun strengthened the cloud around his eyes. “I… aren’t you supposed to stay in the room?” He mumbled, words slightly slurred.

 

Baekhyun smiled again, reaching out a hand to squeeze his shoulder. “It’s okay. It’ll be our secret, right?”

 

The guard looked down at his shoulder and then back up, blinking slowly. “Right.” He cleared his throat. “I guess that’s okay then. For you. They’re down the hall that way,” he pointed over Baekhyun’s shoulder, “then you take two rights, a left, a right and then straight down to the door right at the end. Do you need me to take you there?”

 

Baekhyun shook his head and started to back away. “No, that’s fine, thank you so much.” Before he reached the corner her called out, as an afterthought, “Remember! Our little secret.”

 

He didn’t wait for an answer, instead darting through the elaborate building as per the guard’s instructions. It wasn’t long before he reached the hall that led to the door but he jerked back quickly around the corner when he saw the two armed guards in front of it.

 

Panicked, he glanced around at the grey walls. He was so exposed here, he needed to get into that room quickly. But how would he get past them? He could walk up to them and try to charm them but that might take too long. What would they do to him before he could reach them? He cast his mind back to Jongdae’s lessons desperately, trying to recall anything that could help him.

 

He stilled as an idea occurred to him. If he could influence the mind, the brain then…

 

He tilted his head slightly around the corner. They were so far away. Could he even reach them?

 

He heard the echo of footsteps in a distant corridor and with a racing heart decided he had to try.

 

Focusing on his targets, he tried to think of sleep. Complete and utter exhaustion and comfy beds and soft sheets and drifting off into sleep sleep sleep. He only just stifled down a whoop when the pink fog started to crawl it’s way up the hall. Eventually, it began to curl around their feet, tentatively climbing their legs like vines.

 

One of the guards swayed slightly.

 

Baekhyun pushed it further, further than he would risk normally as he could feel himself tiring. But then, thank god, they both started to yawn and stumble and then they were dropping to the floor, completely unconscious.

 

Baekhyun let himself grin then, as he darted up the corridor and through the door past their sleeping forms.

 

+

 

The room he entered was pitch black. He walked forward slowly with his hands out, swearing when he kicked his toe against something.

 

Lights suddenly flooded the room and he blinked as he processed that he was in some kind of dorm room, had banged his foot on a bed frame, and there were eight sets of eyes blinking up at him from their beds.

 

The silence was snapped by a broken, “Baekhyun!” and next thing he knew Baekhyun had an armful of sobbing Minseok and he realised he was crying too, and relief washed through his body. He tried to hide it by shoving his face into the other boy’s hair but that just seemed to make it worse because it was so familiar and so very Minseok.

 

The rest of them seemed to shake themselves out of their stupor and they all climbed out of bed warily, eyeing the scene in front of them.

 

Eventually Minseok pulled back – Baekhyun tried not to yank him back in – and looked him over head to toe. “What on earth is going on?”

 

Baekhyun swallowed knowing his voice would be shaky and wiped a hand over his face to get rid of the tear tracks. “I don’t really know.” That sounded much more tiny than he had intended and he tried for a stronger tone. “There’s all this talk of an invasion and I’m not sure but… but I think they’re going to attack the   
government. And you guys are their… secret weapon.”

 

A wave of horror swept through the group, and it was Joonmyeon who stepped forward, shaking his head. “I don’t understand. Why would they do this? Who are they?”

 

“They must be the group that have been making the attacks on the north.” Kyungsoo piped up. “The ones taking those children.”

 

Baekhyun nodded. “I don’t know for sure, I only know what I hear.”

 

“How do you hear things? What the hell is going on with you?” Minseok demanded, still planted firmly in front of him.

 

“I – it’s-” he looked up at the ceiling and tried to find the words that wouldn’t make him sound like some weird pervert. “When the lightning hit the bus I got… powers, too.” He didn’t look down to see their reactions. “For some reason my scars disappeared and they were going to kill me and so I had to do something, Minseok I had to-”

 

Minseok grabbed his shoulder quickly, and he looked down to find him staring at him with wide eyes. “Baekhyun, whatever you’ve done, it’s okay. You’re just surviving.”

 

Baekhyun swallowed, grounded by the warm grip through his shirt. “My powers seem to be – I mean, I seem to be able to make people feel things. And I… I made him fall in love with me. He’s still in love with me. Well, he thinks he is, anyway.”

 

He didn’t look away from Minseok the whole time he spoke but instead of the flinch he expected Minseok just nodded. He wasn’t looking at Baekhyun like he was a sick freak and Baekhyun didn’t let his heart get too hopeful at that.

 

He forced himself to look at the rest of the room and found similar looks – sympathy and understanding, most of them shocked too – none disgusted.

 

When his eyes met Kris’s his mind was jolted with the memory of Jinseok’s words. “Kris,” he said urgently, “they have your other brothers. Somewhere here.”

 

About a hundred different emotions flickered through Kris’ face in the space of a second before he schooled it into a hard, determined expression. “We have to get out of here.”

 

Nobody disagreed.

 

“Baekhyun, how much do you know about the layout of this place.” Yixing’s face was more serious than he had ever seen it.

 

Baekhyun thought of the guard earlier. “I can find out whatever you need me to.”

 

Yixing nodded to himself. “Okay. We need to work out the fasted and most secluded exit route.”

 

“Also Baekhyun,” Kyungsoo interjected, “you need to find out where they’re keeping Kris’s brothers.”

 

“And-” Jongin’s voice was hesitant, as though he was expecting to be told to be quiet. When nobody stopped him he continued, “we should find out how to get these cuffs off. Maybe somehow we could get one of the key cards they use to unlock them.”

 

They all hummed in agreement and Jongin’s shoulders relaxed slightly.

 

Chanyeol cleared his throat. “We’ll have to get out on a night where not many people are around. Also we need to get an idea of the security keeping people in once we’re outside the building. Won’t do any good to get out the door only to be shot down the second we put a foot on the grass.”

 

More ideas were piped up and the list of things they needed to do was getting depressingly long. However, it felt more than anything like progress, and he could tell everyone felt a tiny shred of hope.

 

He was about to speak up - when a groan drifted in abruptly from outside the door. He froze.

 

Quick as he could he leant forward and spoke in a hurried whisper, “I knocked out the guards but they’re waking up, I have to get out of here. Everyone focus on what we talked about okay? I’ll try to get to you all soon but no promises.”

 

Once again he was crushed into a hug by Minseok and he wrapped his arms around his waist, squeezing back fiercely.

 

“Stay safe.” Minseok whispered to him, and he mumbled it back into his shoulder.

 

It wasn’t until he was safely back in Jinseok’s room that his heart finally started to slow down. He told himself it was the run back through the halls, and not Minseok’s breath against his neck that set it racing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please don't hate me for the late update!! Thank you for reading once again you are all amazing <3 <3 <3 . Also please tell me if anything about this is getting boring idk I feel like it's getting boring.... eek
> 
> xxx

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you like what I have posted so far :) This is my first time posting on AO3 so a bit nervous haha.  
> Also, this guy has nothing to do with the Kim Jaejoong we all know and love haha  
> Thank you for reading!!! xxx


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